Carbon Revolution, a company born from a university project, is creating carbon-fiber wheels that are lighter than even the aluminum and magnesium rims found on today's fanciest cars.

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The lightweight rims that appear on many supercars and other top-of-the-line autos are made of aluminum or, in rare cases, magnesium. But the Australia-based company Carbon Revolution is focused on producing a one-piece carbon-fiber wheel that could go widespread. "Our goal is to get the cost of manufacturing wheels down low enough so that it's an everyday product eventually," says Ashley Denmead, design director at Carbon Revolution.

Anyone who's read PopMech's new-car test drives has probably noticed the trend toward using carbon fiber in panels and parts, now that the cost of the material is beginning to come down and the emphasis in the car market has shifted to better fuel economy. Using lighter carbon-fiber wheels can help ride and handling, because a car's suspension has to deal with less weight moving up and down as the car travels over the road. Lightweight wheels also aid fuel efficiency and acceleration, because a lighter wheel also has less inertia.

"There's no hidden secret," says Mike Nemeth, vice president of business development at Zyvex Technologies, a company that focuses on carbon-fiber technology. "It's just the next evolution of where carbon fiber can make a big difference in weight reduction."

The original idea for the wheel was formulated as part of a Formula SAE project that Denmead was a part of at the University in Australia in 2004. After the team decided to make its own carbon-fiber wheels, a faculty advisor saw the potential in the idea—after graduation the team came back together to start a company and turn the idea into a commercial reality. That next step—finishing the product design, passing industry tests, and meeting safety requirements—took seven years for Carbon Revolution to complete. "It was a bit of an odyssey, but we got there in the end," Denmead said.

Three years ago, Carbon Revolution finished the transition from concept to consumer product. Today, the wheels come in sizes to fit a number of Porsche 911 models, as well the Audi R8, Lamborghini Gallardo, McLaren 12-C, and BMW M3 and 1M. The wheels weigh between 15.5 and 18.4 pounds, which is as much as 10 to 15 pounds lighter than some aluminum wheels. The weight savings will cost you, though—about $15,000 for a set of four. Lightweight aluminum wheels a few pounds heavier than Carbon Revolution's CR-9 model can be had for about $8000.

For now, that high cost restricts carbon-fiber wheels to those willing to pay a premium for lighter weight, such as race teams and exotic cars. But Carbon Revolution is hoping to make the product available to more consumers in the near future. Part of the solution will be improving the construction process, which will be aided by an impending move to a bigger facility. The company can make four wheels per day now, but hopes to make close to 100 per day in a year's time.

While Carbon Revolution might be at the head of the market now, it knows it needs to keep evolving to stay there. "There are definitely other players out there," Denmead says. "They are not as advanced as us, but I have no doubt that once we pave the way, they will be fast followers."